Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical instrumentation for performing a surgical procedure. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to circular stapling instruments and a lockout for inhibiting clamping of an anvil assembly after firing.
Background of Related Art
Circular staplers are known, as are their use in closed procedures, e.g., endoscopic procedures, laparoscopic procedures, or procedures through natural body orifices. Typically, circular staplers include a cartridge assembly on a distal end of an elongate body and an anvil assembly removably insertable into the cartridge assembly. The anvil assembly is approximated with the cartridge assembly to grasp tissue therebetween. The cartridge assembly includes a mechanism for forming staples against the anvil assembly and a knife for cutting the stapled tissue. Actuation of the anvil assembly and the cartridge assembly may be performed by a manually operated trigger or a powered drive assembly. Generally, both the actuation of the staple forming mechanism and the advancement of the knife occur at the same time, i.e., simultaneously. In an anastomosis procedure, the anvil assembly is first approximated relative to the cartridge assembly to grasp tissue therebetween and the cartridge assembly is then actuated by the trigger or powered drive to form the staples against the anvil assembly and to advance the knife to sever tissue. Typically, the cartridge assembly is only fired once and the anvil assembly is then un-approximated relative to the cartridge assembly. In some instances, however, a surgeon may attempt to re-approximate the anvil assembly relative to the cartridge assembly and fire the circular stapler again even though the staples of the cartridge assembly have already been exhausted.